Call off the Kop cavalry charge against the PGMOL. Referees are Liverpool’s friends again. Three critical decisions settled the Merseyside derby in Jurgen Klopp’s favour. Two were correct as Ashley Young was dismissed for two yellow cards, and Michael Keane’s handball effectively settled the game following a Var penalty check. The third - referee Craig Pawson’s failure to send off Ibrahima Konate when a trip on Beto merited a second caution - reeked of the kind of rank inconsistency which is contaminating the Premier League, leaving Everton manager Sean Dyche ‘baffled’ and Klopp relieved.
“I would be amazed if anyone thinks that was not a yellow. Especially in the modern game,” said Dyche. “How it is not a second yellow is a near impossibility. It was a bad decision. There were a lot of bad decisions. But that is a vital decision.”. Dyche was booked for arguing his case as Mohamed Salah celebrated the first of a double which - for a few hours at least - took Liverpool top of the Premier League. Given the punishment for Young which meant Everton played an hour (inclusive of nine minutes added time) with ten-men, one wondered if Dyche might sardonically request a replay.
He restrained himself from going that far, although he suggested the remit of Var should be amended to include second bookable offences and get rid of the pointless ritual of on-field referees re-examining incidents on a pitch-side TV screen. “In a game of this magnitude it (Var) is there for the correct details,” he said. “I am getting bored with them going to the TV. We all know what is going to happen, don’t we? I don’t get that.”.
Klopp betrayed his emotions when he subbed Konate seconds after he had avoided his second caution for a 65th minute foul on Everton’s substitute striker, Liverpool’s manager recognising his defender’s good fortune. “I understand and imagine the frustration of Everton and Sean at this moment, absolutely,” said Klopp. “Would we have won? I don’t know. It would have been interesting. It is hypothetical. I thought we were the better side and we deserved the three points.”.
Sadly, officials continue to assert a malign influence on the biggest fixtures even if - as the cliche goes - such matters might ‘even themselves out of a course of a season’ as Klopp seeks compensation for the torment he suffered against Spurs. There may come a time when a Premier League weekend passes without the refereeing being the focus. It cannot come soon enough. The competing managers could bury their rivalry to share notes on how unfairly they consider their sides have been treated on occasions this season. Where they would differ is which decisions on Saturday had the most impact on the eventual outcome.
Keane’s 75th handball after Luis Diaz’s cross was daft, not unlucky, and the centre-half has previous for inexplicably extending his arms to block crosses. Once Pawson halted the game for a Var check, the outcome was inevitable. So too was Liverpool’s win once Salah beat Jordan Pickford. The Egyptian would double the lead in the last minute of injury time, confirming Liverpool’s superiority even though Everton were organised and brave defensively.
Offensively, Everton offered nothing more than a Dominic Calvert-Lewin header at Alisson after 36 seconds, the general gulf in class between the sides inescapable. There’s a suggestion the form book gets ripped on derby day. Not so much in this city, recently. Everton have still won only once at Anfield this Millennium, and that was behind closed doors when Liverpool had no senior centre-backs. Liverpool, still trying to convince themselves as much as everyone else they will be in the title conversation, began with the pace that usually blows aside anyone below mid-table. They focused on Everton’s full-backs and for 39 minutes Young and Vitaliy Mykolenko were admirably holding off Diaz and Salah.
Young’s first indiscretion was a needless challenge on Diaz on the halfway line, somewhat harshly punished with a booking. That proved more significant when he committed a more cynical foul on Diaz before half-time, Pawson compelled to show a second yellow card. Everton, already in resistance mode, had to retreat further. They battled creditably until Keane’s error meant that, ultimately, it proved to be the same old story at Anfield for Merseyside’s boys in blue.
Join the conversation in the comments section. It certainly doesn’t help [the red card]. How they didn’t get one was an impossibility of football. It’s a shame that again we’re going to end up talking up the officials in probably most interviews I do. I don’t think it’s rocket science today. The fact their manager took him off straight away was a clear sign of what he thought. Everyone in the stadium probably thought the same thing, everyone at home probably thought the same thing but the people that count didn’t think that.
I liked a lot of moments and then the red card was pretty influential in the game. I wanted us to be calm and ignore that we were one man up. It is difficult in the stands because it’s like now you have to create with each possession and it took a while until we got chances. And then the penalty. I saw it back and it is a clear penalty. Ibrahima, could have gone, yes. It could have happened obviously and then we took him off and from that moment we were solid and compact.
